For fear of shortages and devaluation, end-of-month purchases are growing and there are empty shelves in supermarkets

Gonzalo herman

10/26/2020 1:12 PM

• Clarín.com

• Society

Updated 10/26/2020 1:12 PM

The uncertainty, the crisis and the uncontrollable dollar are beginning to be reflected in the gondolas of some supermarkets.

Clarín made a tour of different chains of Capital and Province and found that there are no products and that the replacement begins to slow down.

For now, at the end of October, and as clarified from the same chains, the shortage of products in the supermarkets is not serious.

However, the gaps in the shelves alarm consumers, who, frightened by what could happen to the economy, try to stock up as much as they can to avoid being surprised by a sudden and fierce devaluation with the refrigerator empty and out of stock.

Greta leaves for a

, in Villa Urquiza, and comments that she is worried about the dollar and that is why she makes a purchase, now, at the end of the month, much larger than she usually does at this point.

"Just in case, I advance the purchase of the month. That is, instead of waiting for November, I now make a big purchase.

.

He did not want to count how much he spent but assures that it was more than what he paid for the same thing three weeks ago, when October started.

The employees of the super stores visited by Clarín agreed that the problem of shortages is the main fear of the people.

"There are no problems with the replacement. What is happening is that many people went out to buy like crazy last week. On Thursday and Friday we sold more than at the beginning of the month. That is not normal.

said Ariel, who works at the checkout counter of a well-known chain of hypermarkets.

The same said Mauro, an employee of the Carrefour of Vicente López, where gondolas were missing.

"In some brands there is a lack of replacement. But what did change was the nervousness of people when buying. We are now selling more than the average for the month."

assured.

Gabriel is also buying more than he would buy at this time of the month.

Although he assures that he is worried, he says that he does not despair.

"Yes I'm stocking up. But not much either. I'm not going to go crazy. I'm taking more than one purchase of the day. But neither could this be said to be comparable to the purchase of the month that I usually do," he says while storing several products in a bag.

Clarín also consulted several chains on the matter and they admitted that "indeed there is a drop in supply levels. We do not link it to the rise in the blue dollar or to the situation in recent days, but to the effects of the current price freeze. since March. It comes from the last two months, with an upward trend. "

Missing in gondolas in Buenos Aires supermarkets.

It is still mild, but the scenario indicates that it can be increased.

The supermarkets also assured that "suppliers constantly try to increase prices in different ways, and we do not accept it, because we cannot transfer them to the gondola. Our prices are declared every morning to the Secretary of Commerce and, if we raise them Without authorization, they would sanction us immediately. But

which account for 70% of mass consumption in the country,

the Government

nor do they have sufficient back to resist the attempts to increase prices from their suppliers. Nor are there sufficient controls to effectively comply with the freeze. "

Industry sources also assure that "suppliers, on the one hand, quantified deliveries to large chains to prioritize the supply of channels in which they can place the merchandise at a higher value; and on the other hand, there were SME suppliers that , without a back to contain their cost increases, they suspended deliveries because it is no longer profitable for them to sell us at the price we can accept. "

From the sector they admit that at times

To avoid gaps in the gondola, supermarkets are turning to new suppliers, causing

"Today we feel more strongly the supply problems in basic products such as oil, flour, noodles. Yerba not so much. In dairy, the lower deliveries by leading brands are being offset by a greater presence of alternative brands."

said the sources consulted.

Other voices from the supermarkets assure that the emptiness in the shelves is also due to the fact that "there is a lot of delivery of innovative products" that were not marketed as of March 6 and that therefore remain out of freezing: presentations with a new container, new brands, etc. What people can notice is a less variety of presentations, since what is missing is “stretched” in the gondola with what is there.

For his part, Víctor Palpacelli, president of the Argentine Federation of Supermarkets and Self-services (FASA), was more concerned about the situation and said that "companies are delivering the merchandise to us in a quoted manner or some have stopped delivering directly if we We refuse to accept increases in excess of those authorized by the Government. "

And he added: "The last authorized increase was around 4%, but companies insist that it is not enough. And the vast majority are not complying: 80% want us to accept values ​​that exceed that guideline and some have passed increases even greater than 15 % ".

The lack of products begins to be noticed in the supermarkets of the City and the Province.

Palpecellli says this is noticeable on the gondolas.

"In oils there is no shortage for now, but the assortment disappeared. Some flours are missing. Also biscuits of all kinds: many suppliers are at 50%. We are not receiving rice directly. The gaps in the gondola may not be seen so much, but it's because we're hiding them. The assortment has clearly suffered. "

In the tour that Clarín made, it was seen that there were missing items in some products, but it is noticeable above all in beverages, canned goods, flour, herbs, kitchen and cleaning products, and also rice, noodles and cookies.